Sunday, November 1, 2009

I decided to start this blog today because, low and behold, as of this printing, Google Hot Trends hasn't been updated for over 7 hours.

What's up with that?

Well, I've done as much digging as I could do and it appears that there is some kind of glitch in the system. Either that, or the Google staff had a little too much Halloween last night.

In the meantime, many marketers who follow the Hot Trends to find out what to jump on are running blind. They're lost without a clue where to go.

So the question is, are there any alternatives to Google Hot Trends, at least until Google gets their act together and sorts out whatever is wrong with their system?

Well, the answer to that is no.

I have checked many of the "trends" alternatives and nothing beats Google Hot Trends, at least when it's working.

I've looked into Twitter Trends but that only applies to what people at Twitter are talking about, which, in the grand scheme of things, is just a spec in the whole Internet universe.

You could try Yahoo Buzz, It's better than using something like Twitter but, and this is my biggest beef with Buzz, it's really hard to find stuff. Google Trends makes it very easy...when it's working.

Okay, so since Google Trends is the creme de le creme, how can we get the most out of it?

Well, I have found that your best trends are entertainment and product related. If it's got something to do with movies, music or anything in the entertainment industry, that's always good for getting a lot of traffic. From that, you can probably get some decent Adsense clicks. I get regular checks from Google Adsense thanks to some of my blogs.

Product trends are also great, especially if they come with some kind of an affiliate program. Places like Amazon.com are usually good for new products. Some of these come with some high price tags where just a few sales can make you a pretty penny.

For the most part, you want to look for things that are controversial. Everybody likes a good controversy. These trends will have people flocking to your site...especially if you have some juicy opinions about the subject.

Anyway, if you want to know how I have turned Google Trends into a science, check out my book Hot Trends - Instant Cash and find out how you can make a nice steady income at virtually no cost at all.

In the meantime, let's hope Google figures out what gremlins are crawling around in their system and get their Hot Trends back up and running real soon.